Mohammad Mursi decision ‘harmonious’ with Western stance

Cairo: Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Syria and call on Arab and Islamic countries to hold an emergency summit are “harmonious” with the Western policies against Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad, analysts said.

On Saturday, Mursi told a conference in Cairo that he decided to shut down the Syrian embassy in Cairo and withdraw the Egyptian charge d’affaires from Damascus.

“This is a step that conforms with the recent US escalation to arm the Syrian rebels against [Al] Assad’s administration and conforms with its deliberation over imposing a no-fly zone on Syria,” Ammar Ali Hassan, political analyst and head of the Middle East Centre for Political Studies, told Gulf News.

Mursi’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Syria comes after the United States approved provision of arms for the Syrian opposition, Jamal Salama, head of political science department at Suez University, said.

Salama said Egypt is one of the countries “revolving in the US sphere,” and these US allies always make decisions that go in harmony with the US plans.

Mursi also called on Arab and Islamic countries to hold an emergency summit on the latest developments in the Syrian conflict.

“This summit is meant to provide an Arab cover for any Western escalation against [Al] Assad’s administration,” said Dr Dia Rashwan, from the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies and head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, citing Western attacks on the former governments of Iraq and Libya as examples.

With regards to Mursi’s warning to Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah against involvement in the Syria conflict, Rashwan said that it was meant to please Islamists, particularly the Salafists.

“President Mursi needs their support as an intended massive anti-president protests will be held on June 30,” he said, adding that the protests will be held by activists and the opposition who call for [the] overthrow of Mursi and an early presidential election.

Hassan said the US move to arm Syrian anti-government fighters and Mursi’s decision to cut ties show international-Arab agreement to end Al Assad’s rule.

“This is a sign that there is an understanding between the international and the Arab communities to ensure the end of the [Al] Assad regime and also to end the interference of Hezbollah in Syria,” Hassan said.

Mursi reiterated that “there is no place for the current Syrian government in the future of Syria,” adding that Egypt’s leadership, people and army are behind the Syrian people, but he stressed non-interference in Syrian domestic affairs.

“I don’t understand if Mursi meant that the Egyptian army would help [by] providing the opposition fighters with arms and training just like what the United States decided to do,” Rashwan said.

— Ayman Sharaf is a journalist based in Cairo